{I'm just thankful no one died}

Whew!!!!  They did it!!!

The boys made it through the week of rehearsals and gave us an amazing show on Saturday!!!

I can not believe the amount of work all of the children dedicated to their parts.

It really confirms the spirit and power children hold.

I will start the slideshow with a disclaimer:

This man, you all know him as THE RAND, was the photographer.

I can tell you this.....

things looked much better in person compared to what you see in these pics!!!!

This is a good example of what I mean!!!

Chelise and I looked WAAAAYYY hotter

 (or at least I'm pretty sure we did...now I'm doubting)

when you looked at us with your own eyeballs and not thru this F-U-G captured moment!

I'm blaming my thick face, eye wrinkles, cheesy smile and bad hair color to The Rand's photographic disability.  Cuz ya know, it's always the man's fault!

The boys had many supporting friends/family in the audience.

Good buddy Gale and Sharon (our supah-fly neighbors),

Grandma Carol (She's the one that you can only see one eye closed and a partial tip of nose)

Auntie E (She's the one red eye and ear lady)

Again, the wonderful photography that happens in the hand of THE RAND!

Shelbs and Justin

and...the Cashman begging for dum (aka gum).

The show had children of all school ages.

It was a kick to watch each of their personalities.

Of course, the younger they were, the more we ooo'd and ahhh'd over their cute voices and dance steps.

A line of toy soldiers sure highlighted the ADHD factor in boys!

This group of kids would sporadically march through the play singing an ABC song and skipping.

Some of them would sing, "A-B-C", then run out of steam because of the foot work involved, then pick back up at "H-I-J".

The evil puppeteer, Stromboli, was perfectly casted, and a DYNA-MO on stage.

but off stage.....total stank DORK-O.

He is definitely made for Broadway in a BIG way!

So, Jax's character was named "Candlewick".

This is the name that made me assume he was a candle.

Apparently, I was wrong!

He is Pinocchio's best friend, and wears a white t-shirt and leather.

He has a gang of lil' Candlewicks that mirror his image.

I don't get what leather and sunglasses has to do with a candlewick, but who am I to say they gave a stupid name to my kid?!?!?

Jax and Pinocchio had a solo song.

Jax did a great job memorizing ALL of his lines, and really got into his character.... especially when he was turned into a jackass and had neck ties as donkey ears.

We had some concern just moments before the show started.

There was a scuffle back stage and Jax almost killed a boy!

I'm not exaggerating when I use the word kill.

Luckily, River and some advising adults stepped in when they saw Jax jump from the floor with fire shooting from his eyes and heading for the other kid's neck!

The story told to me, was that this other kid kept pushing Jax's buttons, (not an uncommon occurrence when it comes to Jax), Jax had done well up until this point to ignore the kid and move on.

BUT Jax just couldn't take it anymore once the kid (who happens to be Hispanic), called Jax an asshole in Spanish!  

The "Spanish asshole" comment was interpreted to Jax by a Chinese kid!?!?!?

Jax went ape-shit and went in for the mexi-retaliation.

He was restrained and calmed down by a couple of adult helpers.

These kids down here have NO idea who they are dealing with... 

do they?!?!?!?

They will soon learn that 

you can't scare crazy!

And when I say crazy, I mean Jax.

???????you all think I make this shit up don't you???????

All I know, is that there was a Jax, a Chinese kid, a Mexican, and a Spanish Asshole involved.

I'm just thankful no one died.

(you don't know how many times I've said that at the end of the day!)

Then we have Riv :)

The Assistant Director/Stage Manager!!!

The dude was exhausted from all of the hard work he had put in.

He was happy to be seen in front of the crowd since he had been behind the scenes all week.

The director called Riv on stage to introduce his "right hand man" and acknowledge his works.

After the evening show was over, and we helped pack up the set, the director pulled River, the Pinocchio, and the Cat character to the side and invited them to an acting summer camp in Montana for a week.

River was honored and proud :)

It would be an amazing experience for Riv, and probably only cost me $10,000!

We will keep you posted.

Be looking for the donation envelope in the mail :)

Only a dollar a day can feed a starving actor in Montana.

Make checks payable to me....

The boys were so damn cute on stage, standing side by side.

They gave each other the "right on" nod, then moved into their sacred "brother" hand shake*.

*consists of some knuckles, elbows, chest bump and twittering fingers.

This momma couldn't be more proud of her boys and thankful for the support that was given to them.

hmmmmm, I wonder what's next???

Maybe Spanish/Chinese lessons???

aaaaaa assholio muy kung pow